I have a friend who is an evangelical Christian, a very nice lady with whom I can courteously disagree on theology. But one thing she does really puzzles me-- she constantly sends me e-mails from ultra-rightie organizations claiming Christians are being "persecuted" in America (!) and that it's all because of liberals, Democrats and of course Obama (who is evidently believed to be the anti-Christ or something). She truly believes that Christians are not free to practice their faith-- and no matter how many times I explain that the incidents she is citing are slanted or even made up by rightie groups trying to raise money, or mention that 90% of Americans are Christians and they all seem to be doing just fine, she continues to believe her faith is under threat.

And that brings me to the Talkers annual conference in New York that I just attended yesterday. I had the pleasure of hearing Ed, one of the few leftie talkers, give a speech. I chatted briefly with Ed afterwards and told him how proud I am of all he has achieved; I also saw (and hugged) Wendy and thanked Jones/Dial Global VP Amy Bolton for her continued support of progressive talk. But what I found totally surreal was the general "vibe" at the conference. At booth after booth, there were rightie hosts and their followers asking people to sign up to prevent the liberals and the Dems from taking away their freedom of speech!!! They kept raising the (fake) specter of the return of the Fairness Doctrine and they insisted there was some stealth campaign amongst Dems to take right wing talk shows off the air, that they were all in danger of being suppressed any day now, etc etc. And the folks I talked to genuinely believed this, no matter how I tried to rationally discuss that Conservative talkers make up 95% of all talk radio and much talk TV (like on Faux "News") and that at least 4 of the major conglomerates that own the most stations have historically donated to rightie causes and supported Republican candidates. That didn't persuade them. They INSISTED they are being persecuted, they are being targeted, that the liberals run everything, etc etc.

So there you are. It was totally surreal for me being at a conference where so few lefties were there to present the progressive view, and a sea of righties dominated the discussion; and those righties kept advancing the belief that Obama is causing all of America's problems, and it's a dangerous world out there -- not just because of Al Qaeda but because the 5% of the talkers who are progressive are trying to work their nefarious plan to stifle the true voice of democracy-- conservative talk radio. As Stephanie Miller would say... "Wow..."

It's textbook projection. As far as I have seen, the righty christians (I've decided to capitalize the word only when it applies to real Christians) and are the ones persecuting and relentlessly attacking the secular.

A new word I've coined: evangelistas.

I bet the Nazis thought everyone was being mean to them, too.

Yes, exactly. They said the Jews, who made up 2% of Germany, were a danger, they were vermin, they were a disease that threatened the health of the nation, and so, they must be eliminated. That sort of "eliminationist" rhetoric is a staple of some talkers-- Savage, Beck,Coulter, O'Reilly-- not about Jews necessarily, but about how the "enemies" within America -- the Dems, liberals, people who are secular, people who are pro-choice -- must be silenced. Savage calls liberalism a disease, and refers to progressives in a way very similar to how the Nazis referred to the groups that they wanted to destroy. Again, I am not equating Savage or any other rightie talker with Nazis-- I am merely agreeing with you that the rhetorical strategies are frighteningly similar. There is a wonderful new book about this, and about the angry rhetoric of the rightie talkers who have aligned themselves with the utlra-religious "Christian" extremists -- http://blog.buzzflash.com/interviews/156

The have to play the victim game. It is the only game they know.

Liberal media bias - rinse and repeat.

But I wish you could have been at that conference-- it was like stepping into the twilight zone. I'm amazed that Ed and Steph can keep a sense of humour about it all...

It isn't too surprising. They're each so over-exposed to the madness on the right that humor is a natural defense mechanism.

I knew it had to be severely twisted when Limbaugh wins an award for free speech.

I guess that was the best they could muster without lying too much.

That's hilarious! What, exactly, was the name of this award?
I don't know how Devorah managed to keep her cool at this conference. From what I know of her, she is not one to go gently into that dark night.
For the evangelistas: I believe that they realize that they're in the minority. They are! Just because they rule 95% of the airwaves doesn't help to dispel this truth. Yes! They may be beaming their message into more households than progressive/secular talkers, but the number of people who identify themselves as Republican has shrunken.
The hysterical approach hasn't garnered the type of results they'd hoped for. They have failed to take into account the fact that fear only lasts so long before people start questioning, then rejecting it. People with healthy egos don't fear the bogey man all of their lives. At some point the rational brain takes hold.
That's why it's so important that they keep changing the focus. Start with a fear of god's wrath, move to a bogey man, then another, then another - bogey men who must be destroyed before they can destroy you. Conquer one and another one pops up.
I think it's significant that after World War II, when the nation paused to pat itself on the back for ridding itself of several bogey men at once, all sorts of good things started happening....
Sallie

seems to me that the RW would want the "fairness doctrine"

it would be their chance to force the "Liberal media" to be more "fair and balanced"

I always say, IF there was a "Liberal media" bushco would be in jail

fear is all they have, sadly some Christians are taken in by it

about 21% or so

Oh I tried my best to debate with some of them, but as my daddy (of blessed memory) once said: "When you argue with a fool, make sure the fool isn't you." These folks are the True Believers, and they KNOW they are right, and they KNOW that they are following the ONLY correct way to think. Their paranoia and their hostility to anyone different from them is truly sad. As for continuing to debate, my experience is that when people get like that, there's no talking to them. So rather than get an ulcer (and yeah, I was getting really really frustrated), I finally just decided to go listen to Big Eddie. His talk was totally non-confrontational. He didn't insult the righties or buy into their distortions. He mainly talked about how he had refused to give up when "everybody" said his show would never succeed, how he continued to believe that a progressive talk show aimed at the middle class and working people could in fact have an impact, whether on radio or on TV. He basically struck a positive note in a sea of blame and negativity. But it's interesting how the right wing talkers have little if any (gasp) nuance. It's still "either you're with us, or you're with the enemy... or perhaps you ARE the enemy." I can't understand how some of the righties who sometimes come to this list can defend the harsh and violent rhetoric of a Beck or an O'Reilly or a Coulter. Yes, we have talkers who are passionate, but they seldom call for the death of those with whom they disagree... Just saying.

No "stealth campaign" here.
I am actively and openly trying to get the ReichWing hate-speakers off the radio stations in Eugene.
By organizing boycotts of their local advertisers.

We got Michael Savage off the air here once, we can do it again!

I simply tell local advertisers: "Have you ever LISTENED to the show you are buying ad time on?"
Then I give them examples of the latest 'Liberals are demonic' rants and raves.
"Now that you know what your advertising dollars are supporting, if you continue to buy time on 'Xxxxxxx's radio show, then I will assume you DON'T WANT me, my family, my friends, or my neighbors to patronize your business."

I don't worry about the ReichWing doing the same to Liberal radio because the Lefty talkers don't demonize the RW.
They do something even worse. They report the facts.


Mac

I found out a few days ago my local AM station carries Michael WEINER SAVAGE. Since I don't listen to that station (I love my Sirius radio...), I have no idea who buys time on that POS station (they also have Sean HannITy, Rush Limbaugh, and I think even Glenn Beck), but I don't remember any of the businesses I frequent needing to buy time on that station.

As for the Fairness Doctrine being favored by righties...well, I have heard a lot of people say that Fox is a BALANCE TO ALL THE LIBERAL MEDIA OUTLETS THAT SEEM TO BE SWOONING OVER HUSSEIN OBAMA </rightwing bull---->

Oh, well, we know better, and that's what counts.

The Progressive talk radio station here is very underpowered. The righty talk stations are big power. Progressive radio 5 kW daytime/33 W nighttime, righty radio 20,000 watts day 5,000 watts night.

Ed mentioned this in his talk on Friday-- he seems to have reached a glass ceiling, where he can only get between 90-100 affiliates, no matter how good his ratings or how profitable his show. That's a sad commentary on the conservative conglomerates like Clear Channel and NewsCorp who have control over the big signals -- they do not want shows like Ed's to get a wider audience.

This statement supports my contention that freedom of the press cannot exist without an independent media, or at least a media that contains independent stations everywhere. Freedom cannot exist without independence. That's why Ed has a ceiling.

The station here (KPTQ) that plays Ed's show is owned by Clear Channel.

Rush told them so.

How to institute a boycott:
(we did it in Eugene with only TWO people)
Pick ONE show to start with. (we did Michael Savage)
Someone has to "bite the bullet" and actually LISTEN to their drek.
Write down the names of the LOCAL advertisers.
Also write down the nasty $hit they say about liberals/Democrats/progressives.
Pass that info along to others and ask them to personally visit the advertisers.
See my previous post for an example of what to say to the advertisers. (post #11)
Radio is a BUSINESS.
If they can't get anyone to buy ads on a particular show, they will replace that show with something else.
(Which may not be an improvement, but at least it will be DIFFERENT.)

RWers can't use this method because the Lefty talkers don't demonize all conservatives/Republicans.



Mac

Government-Owned GM to Offer Free ‘Rush-Proofing’
“AT NO COST AT ALL TO THE CONSUMER, THEIR RADIOS WILL COMPLETELY BLOCK OUT ALL THE STATIONS THAT CARRY RUSH LIMBAUGH, WHICH IS THE BIGGEST THREAT TO RUSTING YOUR BRAIN.”
http://satiricalpolitical.com/?p=7389

This is your brain.


This is your brain on Rush.

Clear Channel has indeed put Ed's show on in some markets, but usually the big signal 50,000 watt CC stations carry Boss Limbaugh, whereas Ed and other progressive talkers are relegated to the smaller and less powerfuls stations. This has been CC's strategy since they were kind of forced to carry some progressive talk shows in 2004. (Long story, better told some other time.) In fairness, there was one guy at CC (a rightie, but somebody who believed in good radio-- whether done by a conservative or a progressive) named Gabe Hobbs who stood up for Ed and encouraged CC to put him on the air in some cities. Gabe, sad to say, was thrown under the bus by Clear Channel in their recent round of layoffs. The fact that CC let him go is a shame because Gabe was a loyal CC employee for many years-- a lot of good that did him. Yes, he was a champion of Boss Limbaugh, but he was just as much a fan of Big Eddie-- he believed in Ed's ability to entertain, so he put his own political leanings aside and encouraged CC to put Ed on the air. Now that Gabe is gone, I doubt many other CC stations will give progressive talk a try.

Do to Clear Channel what was done to Ma Bell in the 70's. Break it up.

It's already having its share of financial problems and it's a shell of its former self. But the damage has been done-- Limbaugh was given the big stations, and the leftovers were given to the progressive talkers. Alas, that hasn't changed, and it's keeping Ed and Steph and Thom and other sane voices from competing on equal footing with the righties who, whether they get good ratings or not, are given the 50,000 watt stations.

It will if they are forced to sell 90% of their stations.

Wishing that Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck or other conservative talk show hosts would shut up is not wishing to do away with "free speech" or real Christian values. However, wishing that listeners of the venomous talk would see reality has gotten us nowhere either.

I agree, but what do you suggest? Ed has often talked about owning stations, but few of us on this list can afford to buy him one!